The Friday after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day of the calendar year in the United States and was dubbed, “Black Friday” decades ago.
The phrase is said to have started in Philadelphia in the 1960s due to the overwhelming traffic and people flooding popular shopping areas. “Black Thursday” was a more common term decades ago as it was used to describe the Wall Street Crash of 1929.
Another theory for the use of “Black Friday” is that it represents the first day of the calendar year when most retail stores turn a profit – going from being in the “red” to being in the “black.”
In the 1990s and 2000s, many stores began opening their doors at 6 a.m. on “Black Friday” – offering early-bird deals. In recent years, the start times have become earlier and earlier. In 2011 stores like Macy’s, Best Buy and Kohl’s started opening their doors at midnight. In 2012, Walmart opened their doors at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Night, prompting protests.
